A Test of Faith
by GoddessofCongeniality
Summary: Barbara has been kidnapped by Ra's al Ghul and it's up to the Batboys to find her and bring her back home. But will it be as easy as getting in and getting her out or is there a trick up Ra's' sleeve that will test one the Batboys' faith and his stance in the family business? Rated T just in case, because I don't exactly remember.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I would be writing this if I owned anything Batman. If I owned Batman nobody would die, all of my OTPs would be married by now, and there would be nothing that would make people want to kill me.**

Dick stirred from his unwanted slumber with a throbbing headache and a burning sensation across his right thigh. He realized he was on a hospital cot in the Batbunker after a few frantic moments. Suddenly everything came rushing back to him. He remembered coming back early from patrol, because it was a slow night, and finding Barbara in the Batbunker. He was asking her why she was there when he heard a noise. He went to go investigate and ended up finding seven of Ra's al Ghul's assassins. He took four of them out before they even touched him. Then one of them slashed his thigh, from knee to hip, with a katana and it all went downhill from there. The last thing he remembered was watching them take Barbara before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Babs!" He gasped as he sat up from the cot. Pain radiated from his temple to the base of his skull. His face contorted with pain. Yeah there was no doubt about it now, he definitely had a concussion.

"Imbecile! Lay down before you hurt yourself worse! I spent a long time stitching that leg and I'm not about to restitch it again!"

"Robin?" Dick asked, his head still a little fuzzy.

"Who else would it be?" The fifth Robin asked as he appeared beside Dick and shoved him back down on the cot. It was no use though. Dick, not only sat back up but, swung his legs off of the cot and rested them on the cold, metal floor. He stood up and tried to ignore the burning sensation that shot up from his right knee to his hip. He, pathetically, limped over to the Batcomputer and fell into the oversized office chair.

"I tell you to lie down and you get up and walk to the Batcomputer?" Damian asked quietly yet just loud enough for Dick to hear.

"I have to find Barbara." He said as he pulled up the location of the tracer he managed to put on one of the assassins before he was knocked out.

"Todd, Brown, and Drake have been asking around to see if anybody knew where Gordon was taken. By the of the Bunker's security footage Grandfather's assassins had sand on them. This meaning, if they too Gordon to one of Grandfather's strong holds, she could be in Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Tunisia, Oman, Mauritania, or- "

"Qatar." Dick said, cutting Damian off and pointing to where the tracer was blinking red on the Batcomputer. "She's in Qatar."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because that's where the tracer I put on one of the assassins says she's at. Now suit up." Dick said as he went to the changing rooms to put on _his _Batman uniform.

"We can't know for sure that is where she is at. The assassin could have found the tracer and dropped it off in Qatar." Damian said following his mentor/big brother into the changing room to receive his Robin mask.

"I know she's there. Her tracer she has with her was activated as soon as she was kidnapped. It says she's in Qatar. Do you know which stronghold Ra's has her in, Damian?" Dick asked stepping out of the changing room with all of the Batman gear on except the cowl and gloves.

"Yes. There is only one stronghold in Qatar and it is located in the middle of a desert. But you are still healing from a major wound that has you limping right now and you have a concussion."

"I'll be fine. Let's go." He said as he finalized his Batman persona by putting on his gloves and cowl.

"Not without us to look after you, you don't."

Dick looked to see Jason, Tim, and Stephanie walking towards him and Damian.

"No you guys need to stay here, hold down the fort and feed me and Damian information that we might need."

"We thought you would say that. That's why, by picking of straws, Stephanie has been elected to stay here and do that stuff." Tim said walking past Dick to the Batjet.

"Plus you need us Golden Boy. With my experience with getting out of Ra's' strongholds and the Replacement's weird ties with the League of Assassins you can't afford not to take us." Jason said, passing by Dick as well.

"And you're fine with this?" Dick asked Stephanie.

"Well I wanted to help, but a short straw is a short straw." Stephanie said. With that they were off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! This one is short but most of the other ones are as well. This whole story I did for my Creative Writing class so it is kind of short even though it was six pages long when I wrote this. This is however one of the favorite things that I have written so please enjoy this!**

Before they knew it they were crossing from Saudi Arabia into Qatar. Dick, who had just woken up from a nap to regain some of his strength, had just taken over flying the Batjet from Jason.

"So what's the plan?" He asked Tim.

"We sneak into the compound and find Barbara without being spotted. A simple extraction."

"And the contingency for if that doesn't work?"

"We barge in there with fists, and bullets, flying." Jason said examining his loaded gun.

"And what if that plan doesn't work?" Disk asked again hoping that Tim or Damian could come up with anything better.

"We wing it." Damian said as Jason laughed at the little Robin for saying wing it.

"Ok so now that everyone knows the plan, let's try to stick to-" He was cut off by something hitting the jet. A few seconds later there was an explosion. The left wing of the jet was almost completely gone. They were falling out of the sky as a bird would if it was shot, except instead of a bird they were freaking Dumbo. Before he knew it, Dick was being handed a parachute. He watched as Jason and Tim jumped out of the jet. Just about the time he and Damian were going to jump out of the jet another missile hit the plane sending him into darkness for the second time in twenty-four hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry guys for not updating in a while, Christmas was hectic. This chapter, I think, is the last small chapter like this that I have. I may post again sometime this week to make up for lost time, but only if I have enough time.**

Dick was awakened by Tim, who was yelling at him to wake up. He sat up slowly with Tim's help. He looked over Tim's shoulder to see Jason helping Damian sit up. Well he wouldn't really call it helping more like having his hands on either side if Damian prepared to catch him if he fell, kind of like an overprotective mother.

"What happened?" Dick asked.

"A second missile hit the Batjet before you or Robin could get out. Your parachutes opened automatically," Tim said lifting Dick to his feet.

"How's Robin, Hood?" Dick asked Jason as he and Tim slowly walked over to them.

"He has a gash on his hairline and a few burns on his back and arms, but he should be fine." Jason reported back to Dick as he helped Damian to his feet.

"Well there goes our plan to just to sneak into the compound." Dick said looking around trying to assess everything.

"Well I guess Plan B is in motion then," Jason said a tiny but excited because it was his plan.

"We better get a move on if we are going to try to make it to Ra's' stronghold by tonight. By my calculations it's about a four hour walk to the compound." Tim said typing in numbers on his holographic computer that is a part of his glove.

"Lead the way you royal highness," Jason said bowing to Damian. Damian just scoffed and started to walk east.


	4. Chapter 4

They had been walking for two hours and were starting to get antsy.

"Hey brat! Are you sure we are heading in the right direction?" Jason yelled at Damian.

"Almost every stronghold Grandfather has is opposite of the sun at a certain time of the day. This particular one is opposite of the sun at five o'clock. Since the sun sets in the west we head east." Damian said.

"How are you so sure about this, little demon?"

"I lived there for two years of my life. The longest Mother ever let us stay someplace. And I'm not a demon you dumb-"

"Be quiet for a minute." Dick interrupted Damian. "I think I hear something."

There was a soft humming noise that sounded like a generator kicking in after the power went out in a storm.

"Cover your faces!" Damian yelled as he loosely wrapped his face and sat down. The others did as Damian did.

"Why?" Tim asked after he sat down.

"It's a locust storm!" Damian yelled louder over the increasing sound of what was now presumed to be flying insects. For twenty minutes they sat there while being hit by locusts. When it was all over, dead locusts were everywhere. They all had to take off their boots to get the dead insects out.

"We better keep moving. That swarm was a pretty small one. No doubt there is a larger swarm heading our way." Damian said.

"Wait, that was _small_? And how do you know there will be another swarm?" Jason asked astonished.

"Like I said, I have lived here the longest. I was trained to endure those things. We lived here the longest because I had a fear of the locusts and could not handle the swarms. We stayed until I was no longer afraid. Each day Mother would make me sit out in the swarms. Each day I would run back into the compound before the swarm was finished. Mother would send me right back out an hour later to endure the locusts again. I did that every day for a year and a half." Damian said in a low voice.

"I-" Jason stopped for a second, not exactly sure what he was going to say. He stopped Damian and bent down on one knee with both his hands on the younger boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry Damian. You know about all the stuff I call you and-"

"Oh quit it with all the fluff Todd. We need to get a move on." Damian said turning around making Jason's arms flop off of his shoulders. If Dick didn't know any better, he could have sworn that he heard Damian sniffle a little.


	5. Chapter 5

**There is only two more chapters left in this story and I'm sorry I haven't updated. But here it is now!**

By the time they had reached Ra's al Ghul's compound, they had indeed endured another locust swarm that lasted an hour. They snuck in through an airplane hangar and hid behind stacked crates off to the side of a jet.

"Well I guess we found our escape route." Dick said handing a water bottle that he had saved from the plane wreckage to Damian.

"We may have our escape route, but we don't have Barbara. I can't find her. My computer is not getting a signal. They're blocking the signal, and if I try to hack in to get a signal they will know where we're at." Tim said taking the bottle of water from Jason and taking a drink.

"I already know where you are Detectives." A voice said over an intercom. Tim, Jason, Dick, and Damian looked up to see assassins surrounding them.

"I guess Plan B is now a go." Jason said pulling out his guns.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. Todd." The voice said.

"What do you want Ra's?" Dick yelled.

"Just a simple exchange. Mrs. Gordon for my grandson." The voice that was now dubbed Ra's said.

"With you nothing is ever 'just simple'."

"Your choice. Exchange or you can try to fight your way to her."

Dick looked at Damian, Tim, and Jason and held a quick silent conversation with them. Dick stood up and walked up to the nearest assassin.

"Do we have a deal, Mr. Grayson?" Ra's asked.

"Deal." Dick replied to Ra's.


	6. Chapter 6

The four of them were led to a room that was lighted by a green pool that was in the middle of the area. Jason cringed when he saw the bubbling Lazarus Pit and tried to hold back the bile that was rising to his throat. The key word being tried. Dick looked at him with concern, but Jason just waved him off.

Right in front of the Pit stood Ra's and in front of him was Barbara. Barbara was in her wheelchair restrained and gagged.

"Well Detectives, I did not quite believe that you four would actually make it down here with all of my assassins still standing." Ra's said, faintly surprised.

"Well believe it Ra's! We brought Damian to you now give us Barbara!" Tim yelled at Ra's.

"Fine," he said as he raised his hand, telling his servant to release Barbara. Dick rushed over to an unconscious Barbara and pushed her back to where Tim, Jason, and Damian stood.

"Now for Damian." Ra's said.

Dick nodded to Damian. Damian started to walk cautiously over to his grandfather with two assassins following him. Dick then nodded to Tim and Jason with a slight smirk on his face.

"Damian Now!" Dick yelled as he did a back handspring into an assassin.

Damian jumped over one assassin and grabbed the assassin's katana. Ra's stood there watching as his assassins were being beaten, stabbed, or shot. One by one each assassin was taken out by their opponents. Ra's noticed that one of the Bats had disappeared in the uproar. He was a little concerned by this, but not to much to be worried by it.

As the last assassin fell, Dick quickly turned to Tim and Damian, Jason being the one to have disappeared, and told them to get Barbara out of there. They did so not even questioning why. Dick walked down to Ra's and stood face to face with the Demon's Head, glaring at him.

"You think you could do all of that and get away with it?" Dick growled.

"No, not at all. I knew I wouldn't get away with it. Like you said yourself Mr. Grayson,' Nothing is ever just simple.' This was a test for you and your three comrades." Ra's said, unfazed by the growing hatred coming from his rival.

"And what did you learn from this 'test'?"

"I learned that, while you and the Detective are similar, you are nothing like him. You are an amateur. You almost led your lambs to slaughter. You may wear the cape and cowl, but you will never fit into those boots of his. You, Mr. Grayson, are just a mere child trying to play dress up in your father's clothes."

Dick lunged at Ra's. Ra's side stepped him and launched a fist into Dick's side.

"Naive." Ra's said as he punched the wound on Dick's thigh. Dick grabbed his leg and gritted his teeth. Ra's bent down and picked up two katanas. He threw the second katana to Dick, who caught it with ease.

"You have weaknesses because of other people." Ra's said as he prepared to fight Dick.

"You care to much." His and Dick's swords clash.

"You are angered to easily." Ra's sliced at Dick's arm. Dick grabbed his arm that now had a wound that ran from his elbow to the middle of his upper arm.

"You are weak." Ra's said as he jumped over Dick. Just before he turned around, Dick felt cold metal slice across his back. Ra's kicked Dick to the floor and held the katana over Dick.

"You, dear boy, will never be good enough. You have failed him. You are a coward. You lose."

"You're wrong Ra's." Dick said, rising to his feet. "I am good enough. I may have weaknesses and be naive, but I am good enough. I may not be like him. I may be too happy to be 'The Batman'. I may care too much. But I am my own Batman. A Batman that gets the job done. And I know that Bruce is proud." Dick said. By now he was back to being face to face with Ra's.

"I am the Batman!" Dick said as he pierced Ra's abdomen with his katana.

"Now go and run to your little Pit like the coward you are." He whispered into Ra's ear as he pulled the katana out.


End file.
